Jake Millar

Millar was born in Christchurch, New Zealand[3] and was the son of Robyn and the late Rod Millar. He was raised in Greymouth.[4][5] Rod Millar died in the 2010 Fox Glacier FU-24 crash.[6][7]

Millar was ambitious about business from a very young age. During his primary school years Millar's Mother Robyn helped him create and sell fridge magnets outside of supermarkets.[5][8]

Also with the influence of his fathers Sky Diving Business growing up, Millar saw that business was something he wanted to get into as he got older.[5]

Millar's professional business career started early during his teenage years when he was attending Christchurch Boys' High School, where he was Head Boy in 2013.[9] There he founded his first company, Oompher, a career advice platform.[10]

Still a teenager, he sold Oompher to the New Zealand Government, with the platform being taken up by Careers New Zealand only 10 months after beginning Oompher.[5][11][12][13]

Millar's next venture was Unfiltered which he founded in 2015,[14][15][16] a platform that provides inspirational interviews and advice from high-profile individuals. A notable interview Millar did for Unfiltered was with British business magnate Richard Branson.[17]

Despite the promise of the idea with nearly $5 million raised and a $12+ million valuation at its peak, the business failed and he sold Unfiltered in early 2021 to Crimson Education for $120,000 in cash and shares.[18][19][20][21]

Following the sale of his business, pressure from investors and New Zealand media led Millar to leave the country for Kenya, where he lived in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi.[22] He had previously lived in Auckland and New York City.[5]

On 29 November 2021, at age 26, Millar died by suicide at his home in Karen, eight months after moving from New Zealand.[23][6][18][24]